A Lancashire man has been handed a fine after sticking both his middle fingers up at a road camera to “celebrate” that he was driving under the speed limit.
And now, 44-year-old Ben Baron is crowdfunding to pay his fine.
The incident – which occurred on the commute to work in early December 2020 – happened as Ben approached a known speeding “hotspot” in Clayton-le-Moors where he had previously been caught by a camera before.
Ben admitted that he was just so “elated” to pass the camera while under the limit, that he decided to celebrate by sticking his middle fingers up at the operator.
But unfortunately, this meant that he drove “around 200 metres” with both hands off the wheel.
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The dad-of-two and Software Developer then carried on with his day oblivious to the fact, while he had not been committing a speeding offence, he had instead been snapped for “not being in a position to have proper control” of the vehicle, and claims he was “in tears of laughter” after receiving the legal letter with a notice of intended prosecution and images showing him swearing while his passenger laughed along.
Ben joked that the person responsible for handing him the fine has “made it personal”, which is he launched a GoFundMe page to cover the costs, vowing to give any leftover money to charity.
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“[When I got the letter] I was in tears of laughter.” Ben said.
“I’ll take one for the team with this one because it’s so funny. It’s a clear-cut case of me flipping the bird at them with both hands [so] it’s a bit of kudos,
“I’m happy to pay the fine.
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“I did a celebratory double-flipping, two-handed, which is obviously now leading to the prosecution [and] I carried on doing it for quite a while too, around 200 metres potentially.
“They’ve got good cameras.
“I think, looking on the internet, the maximum fine is £1,000 for that offence [so] I decided to launch a GoFundMe and hopefully people with a sense of humour [will donate].
“I’ll pay the fine off then give the rest to charity if there’s anything left.”
Wikimedia Commons
And he’s right too.
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For failing to be in proper control of a motor vehicle, offenders may receive three penalty points and a £100 fine if dealt with by way of a fixed penalty, with the maximum penalty being a £1,000 fine.
While Ben’s GoFundMe page – titled ‘Help Me Pay My Fine For Sticking It To The Man’ – was launched on last Wednesday morning and has yet to attract any donations, he claims that he has been inundated with tips from fellow experienced drivers on how to appeal the fine by online, but admits they didn’t know the full story.
Since he has freely admitted to the offence, he claims he won’t appeal it, but hopes some contributions on his fundraising page maybe soften the financial blow.
Ben said: “I’ve been driving for 20 years. It was a quiet day on the roads since it’s lockdown. I was just driving to the office.
“Online, I’ve had [funny replies] and people telling me how to appeal it, but I don’t think they knew the full story.
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“I can’t necessarily appeal it.
Realistically, I don’t think I’ll get away with it because I was doing it.”
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The Boots recycling scheme where you can get £5 off every shop
Thomas Melia
UK high street retailer and healthcare shop Boots has launched an innovative recycling scheme that entitles customers to £5 off their future shopping trips.
If you’re still struggling to come up with a New Year’s resolution, why not try a spot of recycling and earn some money off your next cosmetics shop while you’re at it?
Started in 2020, the Boots Recycling Scheme allows Advantage Card holders the opportunity to get money while also being more conscious about how we recycle our used health and beauty products.
Their third-party app, Recycle at Boots, uses a ‘Scan2Recycle‘ system where users can upload items from various beauty brands by taking a picture of the empty packaging before identifying its form.
This scheme takes items that can’t usually be recycled at home, such as lotion pumps, toothpaste tubes, lipstick, mascaras, travel minis, make-up palettes and more.
Once you have five items approved, head over to your nearest participating Boots store, drop off your empties and scan the QR code on the deposit box.
After you’ve followed all these steps, a voucher will appear entitling you to 500 Advantage Points when you spend £10 in-store at your nearest location, and not only do you have £5 worth of points with your name on it, you’re also an eco-warrior.
There’s even a dedicated section of the app to recycling empty medicine and vitamin blister packs, which gives customers 100 Advantage Points when they spend £5 in-store.
Brilliant.
Credit: Publicity pictures (supplied)
Items dropped into these deposit boxes are taken to MyGroup, a recycling and waste management service which works around the clock to help divert waste from landfill.
These empties will be washed and traditionally recycled into a material called MyBoard, a construction board material most similar to plywood, with lots of different uses.
Nearest Boots locations in Manchester running the Recycle at Boots scheme:
Manchester Market Street – 32 Market Street, M1 1PL
Salford Regent Park – Regents Park, M5 3TP
Manchester Didsbury – 736-740 Wilmslow Road, M20 2DW
The Trafford Centre – 10 Peel Avenue, M17 8BD
Trafford Retail Park – Neary Way, M41 7FN
If you’re up for getting money off your next Boots splurge while also helping recycle cosmetics containers and more, you can download the Recycle at Boots app and find your nearest HERE.
Tesco reveals what the UK’s most popular meal deal was in 2025
Emily Sergeant
Tesco has revealed what the UK’s most popular meal deal combination was in 2025, and some newbies have taken the top spots.
We all know meal deals are a classic lunch option for hungry office workers and for those looking for something quick to grab on the go, and it’s fair to say Tesco’s is one of the most popular on the market – but which combination was the most popular over the past 12 months? Which meal deal was the most commonly-picked from supermarket shelves in 2025?
Well, after last year saw a change in both the main and snack categories, this time around they have stayed the same and it’s actually the drink option where we see a change.
For the second year running, the Tesco Chicken Club Sandwich was the most popular choice of main, while the Tesco Egg Protein Pot took the top snack title.
Tesco has revealed what the UK’s most popular meal deal was in 2025 / Credit: The Manc Group
It’s time, however, to wave goodbye to the Coca-Cola (500ml) bottle, which has taken the title of the nation’s favourite meal deal drink for the past three years now, and say hello to the nation’s new favourite drink… a can of Red Bull.
When it comes to the North West’s favourite combo, the snack and drink choices remain the same to the rest of the UK’s, but the main is slightly different, as we favour a Tesco Just Ham Sandwich instead.
As always, the meal deal statistics for 2025 were revealed as part of Tesco’s annual ‘Clubcard Unpacked’ series, which is basically like ‘Spotify Wrapped’ but for Clubcard customers, giving loyalty card members a unique insight into what they shopped for and how much they saved over the last year.
The series also gives Clubcard holders the chance to find out what their personal favourite meal deal combination was in 2025, and see how that compares to the rest of the nation.
You’ll just need to open your Tesco Clubcard app on your mobile to find out, or you can head to the Tesco website here and login to your account.
Results are available now for a limited time only.
As well as getting to find out their own most-bought meal deal items, this year’s video also shows Clubcard members further insights into how they shopped at Tesco last year – from their most frequently-purchased products, to how many points they saved and spent.
The Manc -
15th February 2021 
